I Love My Computer Because My Friends Live in It

“Get off your phone and read Jess Kimball Leslie’s funny book!”—Andy Cohen, host of Bravo’s Watch What Happens LiveI LOVE MY COMPUTER BECAUSE MY FRIENDS LIVE IN IT is a hilarious memoir of growing up in the early days of the Internet and celebrating technology’s role in our lives.

Coming of age in suburban Connecticut in the late ’80s and early ’90s, Jess Kimball Leslie looked to the nascent Internet to find the tribes she couldn’t find IRL: fellow Bette Midler fans; women who seemed impossibly sure of their sexuality; interns trudging through similarly soul-crushing media jobs. Through effortlessly comedic storytelling and looks at tech through the ages (with photos!), Jess takes you on a journey through the hilarious times that technology and the Internet changed her life.

From accounts of the lawless chat rooms of early AOL to the perpetual high school reunions that are modern-day Facebook and Instagram, Jess’s essays paint a clear picture: That each of us has a much more twisted, meaningful, emotional relationship with the online world than we realize or let on.

"Chatting up randos on AOL, writing feckless corporate tweets, stalking gone-to-seed high-school crushes on Facebook: Jess's life story is as hilarious and weird as the Internet she grew up with. This book is a warm, funny look at how our online and offline worlds became inextricably woven together."—Clive Thompson, WIRED columnist and author of Smarter Than You Think

"Chatting up randos on AOL, writing feckless corporate tweets, stalking gone-to-seed high-school crushes on Facebook: Jess's life story is as hilarious and weird as the Internet she grew up with. This book is a warm, funny look at how our online and offline worlds became inextricably woven together."—Clive Thompson, WIRED columnist and author of Smarter Than You Think

The first personal history of growing up with technology and the internet. The chapter on Twitter is priceless.—Steve Eisman, investor who was the inspiration for Mark Baum's character in the film The Big Short

The first personal history of growing up with technology and the internet. The chapter on Twitter is priceless.—Steve Eisman, investor who was the inspiration for Mark Baum's character in the film The Big Short